Well, it's been almost a year since I commented on this game... I was playing it pretty seriously over the summer, and I am at the endgame. I am trying to collect every discovery and do every extra quest before I go through and finish the game. Apparently, I missed collecting a special item from one of the "guardians" or "weapons" or whatever, so I won't be able to get the "Vyse the Extravagant" title, nor the highest ranking of the game. Arrgh! All because of one item being missed. I am tempted to use an Action Replay code in order to get that item. Sorry, but I'm not going to spend 60+ hours replaying the game again just to get a single missing item! Anyone know where to get an Action Replay for GC these days?

Okay, so I've had this game since Christmas 2004 and I have just now gotten around to playing it. Oh, I've been busy, so there's a reason for it, and I've wanted to have time to really savor it. I have started this game about 3 or 4 times and restarted because A) it was too long since I had last played it and I couldn't remember what to do next or B) I realized I made a wrong choice and had been saving over one save slot for too long to restore back to where I could try again.

So last night I started up where I left off, right at the beginning when you run into the Arcwhale. Don't choose to attack it! This is one case where retreat is better. You can't just go and attack everything. Actually, this game rewards caution in several circumstances, which gives it a more realistic feel. You're basically kids - teenagers - on a quest to rescue your father. As such, Vyse and Aika act like kids, and they have strengths and weaknesses. Major props go to the localization team, who translated the dialogue and all the other text in the world so expertly. No "Master of Unlocking" here, no sir! The only thing that feels a bit awkward is the second option at the shops: "Talk about various things" - which is a rather direct translation from the Japanese, but like so mcuh Japanes, is hard to find a better way to express it in English because you get the meaning.

Anyway, a few notes:
-The moonfish are great for upgrades. Keep your eyes oepn for little comet-like trails in inhabited areas - these are moonfish. There's a finite amount of them and if you look hard, you can get lots of things that advance your character significantly.
-Speaking of character advancement, there is a "Mystery Merchant" that appears on Sailors Island and (I'm assuming) other places in the world as well. He has aIf you meet him, DO NOT see what he has to offer, leave him and think you will see him again. He won't be there. There seems to be some logic to his disappearance, but it could be all random. For example, he stayed around until I talked to another shopkeeper and then he disappeared. Once I left sailor's island and returned a minute later and he was still there. There seems to be an incomplete memory clear if you hit "reset" on the cube, because in my save game, he was there, but after I visted the other shopkeeper, he disappeared, and didn't reappear even when I reset the game. I turned of the cube completely and started it back up, reloaded my save game, and the Mystery Merchant was there again! Wierd.
The point of all this is, if you see this guy, don't leave without getting his stuff. Sell your weapons, armor, crystals - whatever it takes to make sure you manage to get the items he's selling. You may never see them again. I sold everything except the original armor&weapons of the characters, which are irreplaceable.
-In Valua, the Lower City, when you have to chase Marco, I went a different direction and caught up with him. I got a healing crystal for my effort. I wonder if I could get something better if I was faster at catching him? Who knows. Interestingly enough, I checked out several FAQs online and nobody mentioned this little reward. Maybe nobody else got it?

Maybe finally I can get past the 10 our mark on this game and see what it has to offer.